The Department of Animal Ecology became independent from the Department of Zoology and Entomology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1975 and established as part of the College of Agriculture.

The Department has a focus on the ecology and management of free-living vertebrate and invertebrate animals commonly referred to as wildlife and treated in U.S. law as a public natural resource. The Department seeks to provide high quality programs contributing to the knowledge and wise management of the wildlife resources in Iowa, the nation and the world. To accomplish this, the Department: conducts formal and informal teaching and administers undergraduate and graduate degree programs concerned with the biology, ecology, and management of wildlife and with the ecosystems which support them;

• guides the development of its students in preparation for technical and professional careers, for further education and for world citizenship;
• emphasizes in its science-based degree programs disciplinary and interdisciplinary education, including social and cultural dimensions of wildlife and ecological science;
• conducts basic and applied wildlife research, especially in the context of agroecosystems;
• responds to the needs of natural resource management agencies, legislative and policy- making bodies, agricultural and other industries, and the general public for research-based information;
• contributes to cooperation between ISU academic, research, and extension units and between other organizations elsewhere of similar mission.

On July 1, 2002, the departments of Animal Ecology and Forestry merged to form the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management.

The collection contains alumni newsletters that are compiled each academic year and mailed to departmental alumni. They contain such information as a letter from the departmental chair, staff news, enrollment data, degree and scholarship information, upcoming events, awards and publications, and alumni news.

Collection is arranged in chronological order.